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Believe in Yourself

You can discover unalloyed happiness within yourself, if you do not let ‘conditioned thinking’ judge you in umpteen ways. ‘Thought’ itself is like the cave in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, where the prisoners take to be real what in fact is an illusion. One prisoner escapes and comes out of the cave, to see the bright sunlight outside. The Upanishads speak of the domain of Awareness (chit), in contrast to the field of thought (chitta). Rare is the individual who leaves the cave (thought) and beholds the sunshine (Awareness).

 You can anytime step out. Be that rare individual who leaves the cave. Neither academic qualifications nor some special intellectual background is needed to do it. Though it is not common, everybody is always close to doing it. Easy to do (susukham, Geeta 9.2), it is described as something that everybody wants really. Yes, one in a million takes this step. All look out but a rare one turns inward, says the Kathopanishad (2.1.1). You can be that rare one. It does not matter how old you are or whether you are female or male. Freedom is as far as the waker is from the dreamer, said Swami Chinmayananda. In your dream, you were in Chicago and wanted to go home in Cupertino. When you wake up, you realize that you were all along in Cupertino itself. It was never far.

 Believe in yourself. You are the sun, reflected sometimes in the holy waters of the Ganges and at other times in the dirty pool in a slum area too. Let not the medium where you are reflected bother you. Thoughts are the medium. They make you feel great at times and miserably low at other. The insight of the Vedanta is that you are the same sun, no matter where you are reflected. This insight naturally makes you accept yourself as you are, gladly, without any complaint. You then say, “I am OK” (aham brahma asmi).

 You do not need any reason, to turn inward. An excuse is enough. Let the New Year 2012 be the excuse. Celebrate your true nature as Awareness beginning January 1. Day after day, come out of the cave (of thought) and bask in the sun (of Awareness). Do not get stuck in any judgment. As Krishnamurti would advise, do not be in a hurry to find answers but stay with the question. Do not sink in ideas of “I am good,” or “I am bad”. Hold instead the question, “Who am I?” Be aware of a hundred opinions but stay primarily in the vast sky (akasha) of nonjudgmental awareness.

When you stay in this self-acceptance, the peace you experience is itself love. Great action flows from this state of love. You will solve all problems that can be solved. You will smile at the rest.

 Swami Chidananda

Varanasi

Saturday, December 31, 2011